Most of you have read this before but it's helpful info. I've done a lot of reading about dog nutrition over the years and feeding a quality diet is really the number one best thing you can do for your dog.

I have fed most of the foods below and there is a huge difference between these high quality kibbles and plain ol' Purina and such. I'm currently feeding Timberwolf supplemented with Raw and my dog is doing superbly on this diet. Each dog is different so it's a good idea to try a few foods to find what works best for your dog.

This is by Pat (barbponys) who has over 10 years experience with dog institution and health. She has seen how different foods effect dogs and the results of good nutrition. Cross posted with permission:

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Permission of the author of this information (Pat/ barbponys/ elf65) has been withdrawn.

And then there are all the dog foods in charts so you can read what's in them You can compare most all the brands. Most foods are under the "Pet store/Feed store brands" but if you don't find it, check the other pages.

It's such a helpful site I am surprised I forgot to post it!

A young dog will look good on a crappy food but it takes its toll as they age and their health really suffers in the long run. It's a false economy to feed a low quality food. With a high quality food, the dog gets better nutrition so they poop less and you also feed them less because they get more out of the food.
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Last edited by turtle on February 26th, 2006, 11:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I feed Nature's Variety, I rotate the flavors, and use Merrick canned. It's like feeding time at the zoo her, they love their food.
Merrick canned Wing-a-Ling and Smothered Comfort are their absolute favorites!!

Purple wrote:I feed Nature's Variety, I rotate the flavors, and use Merrick canned. It's like feeding time at the zoo her, they love their food.Merrick canned Wing-a-Ling and Smothered Comfort are their absolute favorites!!

I used Merrick kibbles (Buffalo, Venison & Salmon), per Purple's suggestion. Has worked like a charm on my blue & white guy, as blues are prone to skin issues--and he sure has them.

After a taste test with several samples of 'preimum' dog foods, Strak choose Wellness. We fed him that for several months but he ended up with mottled skin coloring and lots of itching which could have been from canola oil and/or wheat/corn? So we went over to all raw and his poop could get runny at times. We decided that a small amount of dry might not be a bad idea for elements other than protein. We bought Diamond's Lamb & Rice which had no canola, wheat or corn and have been using that ever since. We add a bit of olive oil to the dry as he still tends to a drier coat and some scratching. I know about the Diamond scare with bad corn and chicken too. The Lamb & Rice formula we buy is made in CA and not a part of that horrible and sad food poisoning that Diamond had with their corn and chicken products.

Yes dogs would most likely eat a 'meat' diet in 'nature'. But I can't imagine that they never ate anything vegetable related either. Who hasn't seen their dog try to munch out on grass? And what dog has turned their nose up at cookies or even left overs such as yams and stew with carrots and potatoes? Of course this should not be a mainstay, but a treat. And I have a hard picturing that intestine linings, be they dog or human, wouldn't benefit by some fiber which meat doesn' have either.

Thanks gf for your review. It is very helpful when one is trying to pick what is the 'best' for our furry friends.

Ruby was on EVO for a while and had blood tests both before and after 6 months of it being her only food. There was no change in teh results.

She's on Merrick and not doing all that great on it, but she LOVES it. It is the only food she is dog aggressive over.

As for fiber/roughage, there is evidence that dogs eat grass to settle their stomachs or make them vomit - depending on the dog. In the wild, they don't eat vegetables as a meal, but they do get vegetable matter from the stomachs of vegetarian animals. I can't really imagine a dog munching on corn from a field or digging up potatoes or carrots. they naturally eat bones for roughage, and tendons and other non-digestables also provide roughage. I would also guess that chewing sticks and in Connor's case, logs would provide plenty of fiber.

Michelle

Inside me is a thin woman trying to get out. I usually shut the bitch up with a martini.

[quote]can't really imagine a dog munching on corn from a field or digging up potatoes or carrots.

since I heard from someone who's dog would dig up the carrots in their garden AND eat them too This may have started with the dog watching the owner dig in the ground
but I will add that our previous dog Wyatt loved carrots too Guess its an individual taste thingie.

Ruby loves carrots, borccoli and a few other vegetables. Connor will eat an entire onion; which I gave him as a joke and he wolfed it down. Oops!

Connor will also eat whole apples.

I think some dogs will probably eat just about anything they can find. You are correct, I should not have made an 'absolute' statement like that. But I do not believe that it should be a staple of any dog's diet.

Unfortunately, to make kibble you must have fillers to keep the nuggets together. Most foods sold in a grocery store or other large commercial stores have very high amounts of fillers and chemical preservatives. Corn is an excellent example of this; you might as well put sawdust in there. Beet pulp is a binder so that the dogs have smaller, harder poop. Which they would have if the food was higher quality.

I won't eat foods with chemical preservatives, so I try very hard not to feed them to my pets either.

Michelle

Inside me is a thin woman trying to get out. I usually shut the bitch up with a martini.

I have tried many varieties in the Wellness. My pups started with Wellness Puppy and then went to Wellness Simple Solutions Venison because of gas issues. In the middle we tried Candidae which made their vitality level go through the roof. But I am actually on Fromm's now along with Merrick as a wet food. We are trying to shift over to RAW but we shall see how it goes.